清晨 (qīng chén) — early morning | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

清晨 (qīngchén) is a written, slightly literary word for 'early morning' (roughly dawn to mid-morning). More formal than 早上, and earlier/longer in span than 早晨.

noun

early morning

Examples

清晨。
Tā měi tiān qīng chén qǐ chuáng pǎo bù.
He gets up and goes running every early morning.
清晨。
qīng chén De jiē dào hěn ān jìng.
The streets are very quiet in the early morning.
清晨。
Wǒ xǐ huan zài qīng chén dú shū.
I like to read in the early morning.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

晨chénmorning

清 indicates early or fresh and 晨 means morning, together meaning early morning.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

氵青清

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

青

青qīng清qīng

Same sound today

清 has 氵 (water) on the left and 青 on the right to show its sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

日辰晨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

日日rìsun

Sound part声符shēngfú

辰

辰chén晨chén

Same sound today

The shape 晨 adds 日 (sun) to 辰, which gives the sound; it was originally written as 辰 alone.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Time of Day

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